


The Night Before the World Ends

by Sonsoflibertea



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign: A Crown of Candy, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Found Family, Prison, so i wrote about it, this show makes me feel things damnit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24083821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonsoflibertea/pseuds/Sonsoflibertea
Summary: Sir Theobald finds himself in prison, by his own choice, watching over Liam as they await his trial for witchcraft. Everything is unfair, and hard, and Theo doesn't know how to make it better, but he tries.
Relationships: Liam Wilhelmina & Sir Theobald Gumbar, Theobald Gumbar & Lazuli Rocks
Comments: 11
Kudos: 73





	The Night Before the World Ends

**Author's Note:**

> This show, y'all. Geez.

“Sir Theobald. Do you submit to being searched?”

The  _ sir _ almost felt wrong. Theo didn’t feel like a knight right now. The guards of the Bulbian church had allowed him to keep his armor, but, still, he felt naked without his sword, which he had surrendered when he volunteered to go with Liam to the prison. And he felt out of place here, outside the tower, far away from the king he was sworn to protect.

Theo gave a terse nod. Ceresian hands quickly patted down his arms and legs, looking for concealed weapons, tools, tricks up his proverbial and literal sleeves. The sun had set, and the air was still, no breeze to dissipate the damp heat coming off the bay.

He glanced over to the young Liam Wilhelmina, standing a few feet away, surrounded and being searched by just as many Bulbian and Imperial soldiers. The peppermint boy’s head was down, his jaw set. Preston stood loyally at his feet, giving the guards as close to a dirty look as he could muster. Theo prayed the pig wouldn’t try anything. He trusted Liam to fall in line, as scary or unfair as it may be. But, if Preston decided to run or, the Bulb forbid, bite one of these soldiers…

Liam was quiet. Limp, almost, as the soldiers checked under his hunter’s cap and confiscated his backpack. 

Theobald realized, belatedly, that, unlike with him, they had not asked Liam for permission to search him. Theo had to work to keep his anger from showing on his face. Theo wasn’t used to feeling this protective over anyone but the king or the twin princesses.

Once the guards were satisfied that neither Candian had any bombs or knives stashed away, they were led into the tower and up the stairs.  _ Lots  _ of stairs. Guards, then Liam, then more guards, then Theobald, followed by yet more guards. Their footsteps echoed against the peach pit-stone walls and floor. Theo kept his eyes on Liam’s back, and clocked the slight shakiness of his steps. Preston made a couple small, uneasy squeaks in Liam’s arms.

Sir Theobald Gumbar, as part of his duties as Commander of the Tartguard and Knight of Gumbia, kept himself in fairly good physical shape. Despite his… rather large, gummy form, he was surprisingly quick, and could hang with the best of them in battles of endurance. Even so, after climbing heaven-knows-how-many flights of stairs up to the most secure cell block, he knew his legs would be sore in the morning.

There wasn’t much in the way of light here. The hallway before them held six small cells, and each had one small, barred window up near the top of the ceiling, but it had already gotten dark outside. There were sparse lit candles along the walls, though none in the cells themselves. Everything was peach pit stone--the walls, the floor, the ceiling--except for the bars on the windows and of the doors. They were made of bonesteel.  _ Must have been imported from the Meatlands. _

The two cells’ doors were propped open, at the end of the hallway, across from each other. And then, suddenly, everything was happening very fast.

They were being separated, as Theo had assumed they would be, but then Liam was speaking for the first time since they were taken away--”Wait,  _ no, _ can’t we--” and he was pulling against the guards gripping his arms, and then he was on the ground, knocked down by a swift Ceresian kick to the back of the knees, and Preston was charging, and--

“EVERYBODY STOP.” 

Theo looked down to the kid, softening his gaze, but adding, “That includes you, Liam.”

Everything stilled. Theo just caught the whisper of “c’mere, Preston,” from the now-kneeling prisoner. The peppermint pig squinted his eyes, but obeyed, coming up to his left side and leaning against Liam’s leg.

Theo stood, almost panting, both terrified at how horribly wrong that outburst could have gone and relieved that no one pulled any swords in the momentary chaos.

“Forgive me, honorable guards of the Church and the Concord, if I step out of line, but. Is there any reason Liam and I couldn’t be kept in the same cell? This is all… a lot, and he’s a kid, and he’s scared…”

“He’s a  _ criminal. _ A heathen, a worshipper of the Hungry One.”

Theo found himself unsure whether his or Preston’s withering glare toward the church official was more intimidating.

“ _ Allegedly.” _ This guard was in the colors of the Concord. Theo noted the tension between him and the church-affiliated guard. “I don’t see any harm in honoring this request. One less cell to guard.”

“Thank you.” Theo stepped forward without being asked, and, when no one protested or stopped him, he walked around Liam and the guards and into the empty cell.

No one spoke as the soldiers lifted the young Wilhelmina off his feet and escorted him into the cell. One pulled out a set of heavy manacles. “Present your wrists, Wilhelmina. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

Liam’s eyes widened, and he looked back at Theobald.

Theo shared Liam’s surprise. “Oh, come on, do you really think that’s necessary--”

Another guard (of the church, and seemingly in charge) was up against Theo the moment he protested. “Do you really think we’re going to leave this boy, accused of  _ witchcraft,  _ with his hands free? Able to cast his blasphemous magic at  _ will _ ? I have half a mind to order my men to gag him as well, if that wouldn’t make feeding him rather inconvenient. No verbal or somatic components, no spellcasting, isn’t _ that  _ what the books say?” The man was up in Theo’s face, fire in his eyes.  _ As if he weren’t the one with all the power here,  _ thought Theobald. But he knew it would do none of them any good to further escalate the tension. So he put his hands up in surrender.

The clanking of bone metal on bone metal, as the guards locked Liam’s hands in front of him. The kid didn’t take his eyes off the ground.

The imperial guard, the one who had taken their side before, said, “Someone will come with food in the morning. The trial is scheduled for just after sunrise. There will be several guards posted outside your cell, as well as many on the hallway, the stairs, and the building, so don’t bother trying anything.”

Theo nodded, but said nothing.

The cell door locked. The garrison left. It got painfully quiet.

…

Theobald had never had much of a paternal urge.

When he had decided to pursue the knighthood, Lazuli had asked him if he was sure. Knights didn’t have much time for spouses or children. And he had been telling the truth when he told her he didn’t mind. He never saw that kind of life in his future. It was part of why, when his small village on the border of Candia had failed to pay its taxes and the Crown demanded a ward as collateral for future compliance, he had volunteered. What was there to do at home, besides marry and have children and farm? He wanted  _ more _ out of life. He wanted to see things, to do things, to  _ matter. _

Lazuli had always been a good friend to him, despite being his… boss? Legal guardian? Surrogate sister? Regardless, her glowing recommendations had done wonders to get him on the up-and-up in Candia’s military ranks.

And then she had died. And Theobald had skipped the stages of grief and jumped right into paying back what he saw as an infinite debt. The best way he could think to honor Lazuli’s memory was to protect her brother. As long as he didn’t think about any of it too long, he could bury himself in his work, and he wouldn’t have to confront the fact that she was gone.

And he had told himself, when he had offered to go with Liam, that he was doing it for the King. The King would be more at ease if Liam wasn’t alone. The King cared for this kid, his cousin, the son of his hero. But was that really all of it?

Sitting on the cold floor of this Bulbian jail cell, Theo considered for the first time that, maybe, he was never supposed to have children of his own so he would have room in his heart for this. The thankless work of being there for a kid who really needs him.

Physical protection, Theo could do. He’d trained to be the best damn bodyguard in Calorum. But the kind of support Liam needed right now was the emotional kind. And Theo had never been very good at that. But he could try.

Liam sat in the opposite back corner of the cell, Preston curled up in his lap. It wasn’t a large space--they were both angled forward, facing the door out into the hallway, so that they both had room to stretch out their legs. Liam stared blankly at a distant spot on the floor. He wasn’t crying, but Theo could tell it was taking everything the kid had not to. He looked… small. And tired.

“Liam?”

Theo hadn’t spoken loudly, but the name still bounced and echoed off the stone walls. Liam looked up with a start, as if he had been somewhere else in his own head. Preston looked up to Liam at the sudden movement, then settled his head back down in Liam’s lap. Neither made a sound.

“It’s, uh. It’s cold in here.”

“Yeah. Cold.”

“Does the pig help? Preston, right?”

“Yeah. Preston. He’s great, but, uh. Cold to the touch. Which is nice on hikes in the forest and stuff, but not... dungeons. I guess.” Talking about Preston, he kind of smiled, but it was an empty smile. The kind you put on for show, when you really can’t manage much else.

“Oh.”

An awkward silence.

Liam glanced up toward the cell’s small window, then back down at Preston. Then he picked up the small piglet and placed him on the floor next to him, and awkwardly shifted to lie down on the floor, facing the back wall. It was clumsy with his hands bound, but he managed. Preston scrambled around him and settled down against his chest. Within moments, Preston was softly snoring.

...

There were no clocks here, and too small a view out the window to judge time by the movements of the moon or the stars. Even so, it must have been getting late, late enough that Theobald’s eyelids felt heavy. But he had plenty of practice fighting through sleepiness in favor of performing his duties. He didn’t bother lying down. He doubted anyone would threaten Liam’s safety now (there would be plenty of time for that tomorrow… Bulb above, it was too soon…). But, with the kind of couple of days he’d had, and the ones that were to come… Theo had no hope in hell in getting to sleep. Too much to worry about.

So he kept watch and kept waiting for Liam’s breath to grow heavy with sleep. And it kept not happening.  _ Figures.  _

Theo glanced outside, clocking the three guards he could see from where he sat.  _ Probably not a good idea to strike up a conversation now.  _ So he sighed to himself, prayed none of the guards had too good an eye for subtle spellcasting, and sent off a Message cantrip.

_ Still awake? _

Liam’s shoulders stirred. There was no response to the message for a moment, though, and Theobald was about to send another message when he got a small  _ Yeah. Still awake. _

Theo knew he should say something, but there was nothing that felt right. So he just sent a blank message, leaving a channel for Liam to speak to him if he wanted to.

A few minutes later, small as could be:  _ Theo? _

_ Yes, Liam? _

_ I’m scared. _

Of course the kid was scared. All of this was terrifying. Theo was scared, and he was a trained knight. And he wasn’t staring down death like Liam was.

But to hear it? Almost whispered, and shaky, even in his own head? It was heartbreaking.

_...Me too. _

They sat in the weight of that for a moment. Then Theo looked down at his armor. Hard, shiny candy. He wore it every waking hour of every day. The habit had formed back when he first received it--he had wanted to ‘break it in,’ and to get used to maneuvering naturally in it. But he had long since mastered that. It was an extension of his own body at this point.

He reached down to undo the greave on his left leg, and set it against the wall.

He sent off a message:  _ I can’t say I’ve always loved being a gummy bear, but, hey, at least we’re soft. If you want a pillow. _

Theobald immediately thought,  _ that’s weird, why did I say that, why the hell am I so bad with kids,  _ but stopped when he saw Liam sit up and scoot over to Theobald’s corner. Peppermint Preston woke up just enough to re-settle at Liam’s feet, then went right back to sleep.

Liam lay back against Theo’s leg. He had been facing the wall this whole time, but now Theobald could see that his face was wet, and redder than usual. He had been crying. Theo reached up to his own eyes and realized he was crying too.

This was only marginally more comfortable for Liam than the floor had been, and Theo’s leg fell asleep almost immediately, but that wasn’t the point. It was the gesture of it. Protection. Not physical, but emotional. Support.

Theo thought about all this, and about how, at some point, without noticing it, he had grown fiercely protective of this kid, the son of a rival house. He thought about strategies for the trial tomorrow. He thought about the ambush on the Sucrosi Road, and the assassination attempt at the tournament, and all of the clues he had missed in-between. As he thought, he stared at the window in the opposite cell, across the hallway.

It was still pitch-black outside, which was the only reason he noticed a faint glimmer of sparkling indigo and purple light. For the shortest moment, he thought he could see eyes. A warm smile. The face of an old friend. But perhaps it was just the sleep deprivation.

Up against his leg, Liam began to snore.

...

**Author's Note:**

> So I have a bit of a fascination with moments where characters intentionally make themselves vulnerable, especially if it's to protect someone else (see my previous Kristen fic). So my 'I need to write' alarms went off as soon as Theobald volunteered to accompany Liam to the Bulbian jail. Thus, this was born. 
> 
> Comments, positive or negative, appreciated, as always. Also fic ideas. I need some way to occupy my brain space until the next episode comes out.


End file.
